I Don't Wanna Be
by Skyler Samuels
Summary: When Zeke was little, he played in the major league basketball and there was rumors going on about how Jerry Russo was his dad. He asked his mom who said no, but when he got home one day, she heard her crying and that's how he knew it was true. Now, Zeke Russo is in high school and as he juggles between rivalry and kinship with Justin, they juggle in the hearts of their friends.


**Who's who:**

**Justin Russo as Nathan Scott **

**Juliet Van Huesen as Haley James Scott **

**Alex Russo as Brooke Davis **

**Harper Finkle as Peyton Sawyer **

**Zeke Beakerman as Lucas Scott **

**Max Russo as Marvin "Mouth" McFadden **

**Dean Moriarity as Chase Adams **

**Mason Greybeck as Julian Baker **

**Gigi Hollingsworth as Rachel Gatina **

**A/N: Alex, Justin, and Max are not related so in this, so Max's last name will be Austin and Alex's last name will be Gomez just like the actual last names of the stars who play Alex and Max. Juliet and Mason will not be vampires and werewolves. There will also be know wizards and supernatural stuff. Zeke's last name will be Russo. **

Driving down Abbey Road, Harper Finkle listens to rock music. She perishes that moment of being around no one for a while and music lets you evade to another world. She was on her way home from a basketball game, previously won by the Turkeys, the mascot of Tribeca Prep.

Her boyfriend, Justin Russo, was known as the best basketball player in the school. Justin Russo had a half-brother, Zeke Russo. Harper opens her eyes and slams on the breaks, closing her eyes to not run into the boy in the gray hoodie. He takes his hood off and there she saw him; Zeke Russo. She honked her car horn and he smiled, running to the sidewalk. Across the street, Justin was driving the bus with his team. It was like a wild party in there.

"Yo, tell me we didn't just steal the school bus?" A boy asked. "Cause this feels like we just stole the school bus."

"Dude," Justin spoke. "We just borrowed it, alright."

"So, Justin, where's Harper?" A girl hovered over him like he wasn't even controlling the wheel.

Justin responds, "Who knows? Why?" Suddenly, the girl grabbed his chin and kissed him. A train blows its whistle in the distance. Justin continues to kiss the girl as he steers the bus.

"Look out!" Tim Smith shouted. That got Justin's attention. He pushed the girl away and swerved to the curb. Sirens wail as the train passes by and Justin knows they got caught.

* * *

Justin and the whole team are standing in a classroom the next day with angry parents standing beside their teenager. "Some of you parents see this latest incident as a tomfoolery; a little prank." Principal Laritate stands in front of a cop and Coach Whitey. "Personally, I see a little breaking and entering. Chief Wayman," Principal Laritate points to the cop. "...sees possession and consumption by minors, and a smidgen of grand theft auto. That said, I think it's time we send a message. The following players were not involved and will not be reprimanded; Jake Jagielski, Ruben Gutierrez, Tim Smith, and Justin Russo."  
"As for the rest of you, all players are suspended from extracurricular activities, specifically basketball for the rest of the season."

After the small meeting, Coach Whitey walks outside and the door opens. Out walks Jerry Russo who walks to him. Coach turns around to face him. "So you just walk away." Jerry speaks.

"Well, well. Jerry Russo."

"Half the team suspended, Justin triple-teamed the rest of the season, and you say nothing."

"The inmates will not run the asylum." Whitey responds.

"You're despicable, you know that?" Jerry says, but Whitey doesn't respond. He just starts to walk away. "Letting the dreams of this team just vanish. You're full of crap!"

"It comes with old age, Jerry; constipation." Whitey shouts and rolls his eyes.

* * *

Zeke Russo is at the river court with his best friends Antwon "Skills" Taylor, Max Austin, Jimmy Edwards, Junk Morreti, and Fergie Thompson. He shoots a basket as Junk asks a question. "You guys remember Tom Dugan from grade school?"

"He used to live next door to you, right?" Zeke asked as Junk catched the ball.

"Yeah, some guy snapped him with a wet towel and he lost one of his testicles." They share a laugh and Zeke looks at Skills.

"Okay, Junk." Jimmy shouted from the bleachers.

"Just saying what I heard." He defended himself.

"Anyway, man, what you reading these days?" Skills asked as Junk passed the ball back to Zeke.

"Steinbeck, "The Winter of Our Discontent." Zeke answered.

"Let me hear some."

Zeke nodded, no. "No."

"Come on, dog, you know I be reading vicariously through you." Zeke got caught of guard when a very familiar Comet car drove on the road.

"Harper Finkle." Junk spoke. "Have you seen her webcame in her bedroom?"

Zeke continues to look at the spot where Harper was driving. Junk continues, "I hear she's naked on it, like, all the time." Junk laughs and Zeke glares at him. "What? I hear things?"

"You know, I saw her the other night." Zeke says, dribbling the ball. "She almost ran over me, of course."

"Yeah, she's pretty fine, huh?"

"She's alright." Laughter erupts from them and Zeke just says, "Just shoot for teams alright."

* * *

Zeke runs into his mom's café, "Karen's Café." He opens the door and walks in with his basketball. "Hi, mom."

"Hey, honey." She looked up to greet him as she cleans the counter.

"Mm, it smells good in here." He walks to the counter and leans on it. "Did you change your hair?"

"If by "change" you mean "dragged a brush through it," then yeah."

"Well, it looks nice."

"Thank you." She walks into the back when his best friend, Juliet Van Huesen walks out from the back, reading a magazine.

"The magazine pages are sticky again, little pervs." Juliet spoke, walking to the counter. "Oh, hi Zeke, have you been reading this?"

"I don't know, Juliet. Is that the "Why do I hang out with these people?" issue, because you're on the cover of that, right?"

"No, actually, it's the "My best friend's an idiot," issue. And there you are." She said. Zeke scoffed. He walked over to a table where his mom was sitting with dinner.

"Juliet, would you like to join us?" Karen offered.

"Hell yes." Juliet responded, filling up her cup with water. Zeke and Karen chuckle as she walks over and sits down. Karen asks Zeke a question.

"So, honey, how was your day?"

"Good, thanks." Juliet answered. "Good is relative, considering a third of the world is starving, which does not change the fact that I'm clumsy as hell. Did I tell you that I fell down today? Yeah, I slipped off the curb, face down, and butt in the air."

"Juliet." Karen started after they finished laughing at the picture.

"Was that too graphic? Sorry, I'll just be quiet." Juliet answered before taking a bite of the meat.

"So, I got something for you, Zeke." Karen said.

"Actually, I found it. I'm sorry, not that I was for something specifically which implies some hideous sort of "Joey Loves Dawson" scenario and completely creep out, but you know we saw and..." Juliet looked at Karen as she ran out of words. "Well, give him the book."

Karen takes a book from her back and hands it to Zeke. "Wow." He says. "Julius Caesar."

"There's a tide in the affairs of me" - or something like that." Karen says.

"Nice. Thank you guys, thank you very much."

"Whatever, that's what you're into." Juliet spoke, chewing on her food and clearing her throat.

* * *

Coach Whitey sits in his office as Zeke and Justin's uncle Keith walked up to the door of his office. He knocked on the window pane and Whitey signaled that he could come in. Keith smiled and opened the door.

"Well, well. Keith Russo, what do you know?"

"How are you doing, Whitey?" He asks, taking a seat after closing the door.

"Take a load off."

"You got a second?"

"Oh, I got a lot of seconds or haven't you heard?"

"Oh, I heard." Keith takes out an alcohol flask and Whitey quickly shuts his blinds, grabbing a cup.

"Pour in just a little." Whitey says. Keith pours in a little, but Whitey keeps asking for more. "Pour in just a little more."

"That's good."

"That's good." Keith takes a drink out of the flask and Whitey brings up Jerry. "I saw your little brother today. Jerry. He called me despicable, said I crushed the dreams of young men."

"Was he talking about himself or Justin, do you think?"

"Both, I suppose." He takes another sip from the cup and continues. "Hey, what did you average when you played for me?"

"Oh, I averaged about 5 thousand and six beers a night." They both laugh as Keith sits back.

"Well, at least you were consistent."

"Yeah, you gotta give me that." Keith responded. "Hey, you know, uh...Zeke plays."

"Zeke? Oh. Oh, Jerry's other son."

"Well, Karen's son." Keith corrects. "Jerry's on the birth certificate, but they never got married."

"Where does he play?"

"He plays at this park down by the river with a couple other friends."

"Oh, come on, Keith. If the kid had any promise, he'd be in the gym with the real players."

"Like Justin, you mean?" He asks and leans forward, continuing. "Come on, Coach. Take a little drive with me."

* * *

Zeke's at the river-court, playing basketball with Junk, Fergie and Skills as Jimmy and Max announce. "Zeke is on fire tonight! How do you say "hot" in French?" Max shouted.

"Flambé," answers Jimmy.

"Zeke is flambé."

"Fergie finds Zeke who fakes out Junk again!"

"They never learn, Max." They're too busy that they don't even notice Keith's car pull up containing Keith and Whitey.

"That's what I'm talking about." Keith and Whitey are watching the boys, but mostly Zeke play.

"Alright, let's say I'm interested, and I'm not saying I am. Why put him through that?"

"He should know that he's good; not just playground good, but good, period. He could use that in his life."

"We could all use that in our lives."

"Yes, but we had our chance."

"So, you and Karen are you..."

"We're friends. You know, I'm the kid's uncle, and I'm their lives. It is what it is."

"I remember when Jerry told me Karen was pregnant right after their senior year in high school. I told him he should honor his scholarship and go to college."

"I tell you one thing; you did Karen a favor and Zeke too. Now maybe you could do me one." Keith looked at Whitey with a grin.

* * *

Harper sits in her closet, messing with pictures on Photoshop as she listened to rock music. One picture was a pile of skulls and the other one was of a man digging snow. Justin walks into her room and walks into her closet.

"What are you wasting your time at now?" He asks.

"I didn't hear you come in." She looks at him then back at her computer.

"Imagine that." He leans down and turns it off. "You know nobody listens to this crap." He walks into the out of the closet as Harper gets up and leans on her closet door.

"I waited for you tonight."

"Yeah, the guys wanted to tip a few."

"And you didn't even think to let me know?"

"That's why I came by." He walked over to her. "Do you want to come?"

"With the guys?"

"And me."

"And the guys..."

"You know what Harper?" Justin asked. "I'm getting really tired of this. I came here to spend time with you.

"Yeah, spend time with me and half the team." Harper added.

"You want to be a bitch? That's cool. Sit in your closet, just listen to your loser rock, and I'll see you tomorrow."

"How about you _don't _see me tomorrow?" She shouted.

"That's fine by me, like I don't have other options. Justin sees that he has upset her. He sighs and looks up at the heavens then back at her. "I'm sorry. Harper, I'm really sorry. It's just a lot of these guys got suspended so it's like this stupid bonding thing. Look, I wish it was just you and me. But I was hoping you'd come anyway and make it a lot more bearable, okay?"

Harper smiled at him as he leans in for a kiss. She closes the gap and they kiss passionately.

* * *

Zeke sat in class, looking up to see Harper looking down at a piece of paper. She looks up at him and it becomes awkward until Whitey walks in and calls out, "Zeke." All eyes turn to him as he cautiously got up and walked over to him.

They walk into the school gym and Zeke sees a couple of basketballs set on a rail. "It's nice, isn't it? A lot of people like their gyms loud. I like mine like this; quiet, clean...kind of like a church. There's a lot of praying done here anyway. I heard you played ball in grade school. Why'd you quit?" He picked up a ball and turned to face Zeke who was looking around.

"I didn't." He speaks.

"What? Four guys in a park; that's not exactly basketball."

"Then what do you think we're doing out there?"

"I don't know, planning a bank job? Look, I've got an opening in my line-up, varsity. It's a chance of a lifetime." Whitey tosses the ball to Zeke, who catches it. "What do you say?"

"I say those people that pray here are wasting their time. God doesn't watch sports." He drops the ball to the ground and it dribbles as he walks out, dribbling to the rhythm of his footsteps.

* * *

Zeke is back at the river court with the guys and he shoots a basketball. Skills catches the ball as he asks "Were you going to tell us, man?"

"It's nothing."

"Whitey asked you to play on the team and it's nothing?"

"It's nothing because I'm not playing. I'm not playing with those guys."

"Zeke, man, I've been guarding you almost every night since we were like 12 years old, right? And I won how many games?" Skills asked. "I don't know. It just seems like a waste to me, man."

"Well, it doesn't to me. Don't you guys ever think that maybe we belong here?"

"No. _We belong here._" Skills gestured to Fergie, Junk, and himself. "You've never belonged here."

"Thanks a lot, Skills." He answers sarcastically, grabbing the ball. "Just shoot for teams."

"Zeke, you know you're one of my best friends, right? Nothing's ever going to change that, but keep it real. We ain't shooting for teams. We're shooting to be your excuse, and I ain't about to be a part of that." He starts dribbling the basketball.

* * *

Zeke runs down the sidewalk with his basketball until he reaches his house. He reaches the top of the steps and sees a yellow package for him titled "Zeke Russo." He bends down and grabs it. He opens the door and walks into the house.

Once in his room, he opens the package and sees a white and blue jersey with his last name on the back and mascot "Turkeys" on the front. Underneath, "Russo" is the number 3. He takes his hoodie and shirt off and tries on the jersey. Karen looks at him as he stands in the frame of the door. He turns around, knowing he had to explain.

"Somebody left it at the door." He said.

"Take it off," She said and walked way. Karen never wanted Zeke to play basketball because of Jerry. It just reminded her of him even though they were long gone. Zeke sighed and turned around to face his reflection. He takes the jersey off and puts his shirt back on. He walks out of the house and walks down the steps. He sees Karen sitting by the bushes, gardening, except she wasn't gardening. She was looking to at an album.

"Mom, are you okay?" He asks, walking over to her. She looks to see that Zeke has sat down next to her. "Do you know who left it?"

"Coach Whitey probably left it." He sighed. "He asked me to play."

"Maybe you should."

Zeke scoffed, "You sound like Skills. Those guys refused to play today, saying they don't want to be my excuse."

"How'd you feel about that?"

"Honestly, I was pissed. Those guys are supposed to be my friends."

"They are your friends. Do you remember that?" Karen points to a picture and lets him see the album. It was a picture of a 9 or 10 year old Zeke. He was standing in front of a Christmas tree, holding a leather basketball.

Zeke laughed and said, "My first leather basketball. That was the year that Skills' dad told us there was no Santa Claus."

"Yeah, and I tried to talk you out of that." Zeke chuckles as Karen continues. "Then you said something I'll never forget. You said that you felt bad for the kids who never figured it out, because when they grew up and had kids of their own, there wouldn't be any gifts on Christmas morning. You're a good kid, Zeke, but sometimes I feel like you're sitting out your life on account of me. I don't want that for you. My past is not your future, okay?"


End file.
